Cruciferous vegetables includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, collard, turnips, bok choy, kohlrabi, horse radish, and a few other vegetables.
Cruciferous vegetables are master detoxifiers. (1)

The cells in our body, especially in the liver, have “detoxification factories” in them called enzymes. These factories relentlessly work to process the things that can damage the body.
Cruciferous vegetables can speed up enzyme processing of toxic compounds. They make the body a more efficient detoxifier.

Also, cruciferous vegetables balance hormones in a favorable way (2) and help prevent various cancers.

A review of research published in the October 1996 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed that 70% or more of the studies found a link between cruciferous vegetables and protection against cancer.
Various components in cruciferous vegetables have been linked to lower cancer risks. Some have shown the ability to stop the growth of cancer cells for tumors in the breast, uterine lining (endometrium), lung, colon, liver, and cervix, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Studies that track the diets of people over time have found that diets high in cruciferous vegetables are linked to lower rates of prostate cancer.

Another way cruciferous vegetables may help to protect against cancer is by reducing oxidative stress.

Nutritional Benefits

It is best to eat these vegetables raw or only lightly steamed to retain the phytochemicals that make cruciferous vegetables special in terms of health.
Buy the organic ones for optimal benefits.

1. Murray M. Altered CYP expression and function in response to dietary factors: potential roles in disease pathogenesis. Curr Drug Metab. 2006;7:67-81.
2. Fowke JH, Longcope C, Hebert JR. Brassica vegetable consumption shifts estrogen metabolism in healthy postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2000;9:773-79.

All tea varieties including white, green, black, and oolong tea are derived from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis. They contain numerous compounds including polyphenols  (catechins), tocopherol, vitamin C, as well as other antioxidants. Green tea has been documented to be helpful for artherosclerosis, LDL cholesterol, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, liver disease, weight loss, neuro-degenerative diseases, and halitosis.

Making your own tea at home guarantees the perfection of your taste preferences and the absence of  artificial ingredients or high fructose corn syrup. A brewed tea at home ensures the use of an ideal combination of organic and local ingredients such as organic tea,  fresh-squeezed lemon juice, no sugar, and your sweetener of choice (honey, agave or stevia).

The tea with powerful health-promoting properties would be made at home with green tea, honey, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice.

Recently, scientific research has shown that drinking  green tea with lemon juice is best to bring out its health benefits. A study from Purdue University found that most catechins are not absorbed into the bloodstream when tea is drunk by itself,  but adding lemon juice to the tea lowers the pH in the small intestine and allows a better absorption of the catechins. Green tea is up to 5 times as healthy when citrus is adedd.

Native to southeastern Asia, ginger (Zingiber officinale) is  famous  for its aromatic, culinary and medicinal properties. Ginger’s  benefits as a healing food are well known in traditional Chinese medicine and the plant often is called as “the universal medicine.” It was described in Ancient Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern books. In China, ginger has been used since the 4th century BC in remedies for nausea, cold, coughs, and digestive distress.  Ginger has become popular in Europe after the Ancient Romans imported ginger from China almost two thousand years ago. Spanish explorers introduced ginger to the West Indies, Mexico and South America and later was exported back to Europe. Today, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, and Australia are the largest producers of ginger.

Ginger is an excellent source of magnesium, manganese, potassium, copper and vitamin B6.  Ginger contains active and powerful antioxidants such as polyphenolic compounds called gingerols. Ginger extract constituents have anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects on cells.

Health benefits of ginger include alleviation of all symptoms associated with motion sickness including dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and cold sweating. Ginger is good for the lungs, kidneys and upset stomach. Ginger contains some chemical compounds that stimulate the pancreas to secrete specific enzymes which enhance digestion.

Ginger contains chemical substances that lower blood cholesterol levels, have a blood thinning effect, alleviate hypertension and protect against the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Gingerols are anti-inflammatory compounds that are very effective in osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.  Gingerols inhibit the pro-inflammatory compounds produced by cells comprising the synovial lining of the joints, cells comprising joint cartilage and leukocytes.  Scientific research has been shown that gingerols have anti-bacterial properties to inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori, involved in the development of gastric and colon cancer and suppress the growth of human colorectal carcinomas.

Ginger is one of world’s healthiest foods to be consumed freshly grated, dried ground or as a tea. Eat fresh ginger root and drink a lot of ginger tea to feel its healing powers!

Today, Aloe Vera is being used all over the world in herbal medicine with an endless number of applications. Aloe Vera is non-toxic, with no known side effects. Both topic application and internal consumption are very effective and full healing therapies. The health benefits of Aloe Vera strong anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-biotic extracts are due to the presence of more than 20 amino acids, 8 vitamins, enzymes, minerals and other beneficial nutrients such as polysaccharides, mannans, anthraquinones and lectins.

There are few scientific studies of the plant’s medical properties as an immune system booster. The plant contains a newly discovered compound called acemannan which improves the number of T-lymphocyte cells that play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. Acemannan has been approved in Europe to stimulate the immune systems of AIDS patients. As an enhancer of all immune system, Aloe Vera can help fight cancer. Lectins and emodines contained in Aloe Vera destroy malignant cancer tumor. A Brazilian monk uses a mixture of Aloe Vera, bee honey and rum as a natural treatment to cure and to prevent several types to cancer.

Aloe Vera extracts  have been documented to be effective in the treatment of wound and burn healing, to improve blood glucose level in diabetics and lower blood lipides in humans. A long array of  disorders of the digestive system, skin and hair care, eye and gum care, skin disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, acne, wrinkles from aging, sunburns, bruises and frostbites are treated with Aloe Vera. Many people take Aloe Vera internally in congestion, intestinal worms, indigestion, stomach ulcers, colitis, hemorrhoids, cirrhosis, hepatitis, kidney infections, urinary tract infections, and prostate problems.

Aloe Vera extracts or dietary supplements contain three anti-inflammatory fatty acids that are healthy for the stomach. They are beneficial to people suffering from peptic ulcers, impaired digestion and stomach problems.

Boost your immune system, restore your health by using Aloe Vera everyday in your diet – a powerful healing source of more than hundred nourishing nutrients!

Avocado is as a “nutrient enhancer” by allowing the human body to absorb lipophilic alpha and beta-carotene and lutein in foods that are prepared with the fruit. Adding avocado to salsa increases body’s ability to absorb health promoting lycopene and beta-carotene a few times higher than the amount of these nutrients absorbed from avocado-free salsa.

Avocado is rich in both monosaturated and polyunsaturated fat and contains potassium. Avocado is better than banana because contains more potassium and much less sugar. The fruit also is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folate, copper, and dietary fiber. One avocado contains 30 grams of fat (300 calories), but 2/3 of them are health-promoting monounsaturated fats, including oleic acid. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. A diet high in avocados may help decrease the unhealthy levels in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, and increase the level of health promoting HDL cholesterol. Avocado meets the dietary guidelines of the American Heart Association, established to eat a diet that is low to moderate in fat.

By eating organic fresh avocados chopped in a salad, spreaded on sandwiches and toast or a few slices on a plate you lower your cholesterol level and increase your immune system!